All But A Dream
by MobMotherScitah
Summary: Steffeny, a 20-something Cashier in the 70's meets Jane Doe, or as he's better known as, Soldier. But she only has 2 months to get to know him... Guess how that will end! SOLDIER/OC Surprise at end. Soldier IS OOC, but I have good reason. Hahaha. Enjoy!


_Now, bare with me here, **Do Not Knock** this until you've reached the end. _

_Jane's OOC-ness makes so much more sense in the end. _

_But, I think its an adorable read. _

_LOL _

_Of course I do. I wrote it! ^^ Enjoy! - Scitah_

* * *

Soldier, Jane Doe, grumbled at the letter he'd just read over. It was the company that sold him his rations. They'd gone under and no longer sold cans and the like. Jane was very, let us call it, upset, and so, he decided to trek into the nearest grocer and approached the only cashier working that night.

She'd just finished bagging a tired looking woman's groceries and offered the Bag boy's help to getting the bags to her car. Obviously, the tired woman accepted with a nod and lead the young man out to her car. When the chestnut haired young woman turned around, she gasped and jumped back in fright and shock.

"Holy crap!" she blurted in her shock.

Jane frowned from under his helmet, "Very. It would seem that the company that used to deliver my rations has gone down… As if shot on the last run of the battle!" he explained, earning a confused look from the girl and a few stares from the other staff.

Glancing down at the name tag, Jane read her name, "So, Steff…Eny. I need you to find a way to deliver this list of rations once a month, starting tomorrow!"

Her large eyes glanced for someone to help her away from this nut-job, but she was stuck. Glancing down at the list, she slowly took it, "Uh…"

Jane straightened and nodded, "Good. See you tomorrow at 1600 hours, Soldier!" he saluted and marched off. Before he made it to the door, he stopped, turned around, and re-approached the shrinking away girl. "One last thing, Maggot!"

She flinched at the name shouted at her. Steffeny wasn't quite sure if he realized that the whole store could hear him, but she wasn't about to point that out to this psycho!

He slammed a wad of cash down on the counter, "That should cover the first four months and a little extra." he then wrote his name and address on a card meant to be filled out for a coupon book. "There."

And he left.

Steffeny exhaled and looked from the card, to the cash, to the list. Obviously, that really happened.

"Good job, Maggot." One of her coworkers commented in a joking manner. "What are you gonna do?"

Her brows rose high on her forehead. "I'm supposed to know? Something tells me he fell out of his tree, Brent! Sh-should I report this or something? Isn't this against the rules… Or something?"

"Or something." he mocked her again. They had an antagonistic sort of brother/sister relationship. "I say do it. Buy the looney-toon his bib and spoon, take it to him, then never go back again. You are moving to Florida, ain't you?"

She clenched her jaw a moment. "I couldn't do that… What if he really is sick in the head? I could never do that to someone who needs help! And yes. I'm going to Florida. But, not for another two months." she pointed out. Then she remembered what he'd said, "Wait… What that hell does 1600 hours mean?"

Brent counted on her fingers, "I think four o'clock. Guess he wants his food before dinner." he shrugged. "So are you gonna do it?"

"I-I… I dunno." she huffed.

"I think you should." Brent said smugly. "That's a good amount of money, Steff."

She sighed at the predicament, "Fine. But only if you help me shop for this… Guy."

With an eye roll, Brent nodded, "I don't have anything to do tomorrow. Why not? Hey. What's his name, anyways?"

Picking up the card that Jane had written on, she read it out loud, "A Mister Jane Doe." at the scoff from Brent, she shoved the card towards him, "I'm not making that up! It's what he wrote!"

Brent laughed, "Well, no wonder he's all Over the Coo Coo Nest!"

Steffeny lightly slapped his arm, "Shut up, jerk. Don't you have some items to shelve?" she then snatched the card away and shoved the wad of cash, the card, and the list into her purse under the register.

Looking the card over, she eyed the door in front of her cautiously. Did she really want to see this guy face-to-face again? "Not really…" she murmured to herself before shivering once. Wracking up her courage, she knocked on the door and set the box down in front of the door. Turning away, she took two steps, but turned back to pick the box the box back up. It was cowardly just to leave it there… And she had to discuss to him about the whole money issue. She couldn't in all her right mind just take th- HOLY SHIT, FIRE!

Launching herself backwards, Steffeny fell to the floor, barely escaping the flame throwers dragon-like breath. Wide eyed and panting, she watched as the flames stopped and the gun was pulled back into the right hole. "You still there?" a rough voice asked. "Good… Come a little closer… So I can- ARGH!" two arms darted out and attempted to strangle the air. "Ah, damnit. Come on in."

When the arms disappeared, Steffeny just stayed there a moment. What the hell was wrong with this guy! It was Steffeny's sense of honor that lead her to standing and gathering her courage again. She pushed the door open to squint at the darkness beyond the hallway's lights. When she noticed the overturned table with Jane behind it aiming a gun at her, she felt a cold fear before darkness consumed her.

Jane watched her fall to the floor and hummed in thought. "Odd." He waited a moment before standing and nudging the girl with his booted foot. "Wow… She's really out." Grumbling to himself, he lifted her up and brought her over to his couch. Setting her down with ease, he returned to the door to shut it, but found his rations there.

A grin covered his face for a moment before he lifted it and brought it in, slamming the door shut with his foot.

Awaking to the smell of cooked beans, Steffeny groaned and sat up, holding her head.

"Good. You're awake just before dinner, Recruit!" a man's voice chuckled. "You had me fooled for a while there… Didn't know you were that Cashier Girl."

Steffeny blinked in shock, remembering what had happened previously. Her hazel eyes widened as she looked up at Jane Doe. When he approached with a warmed can of beans and a smile, she quickly stood and moved away from him.

She pointed, "You tried to kill me… Three times!"

He shrugged as if he was accused of that more than once. "Didn't know who you were."

She laughed sarcastically, "As if that is an excuse? What the fuck is wrong with you, man? I mean, what sort of psychological shit hole did you go through to turn out a homicidal suspicious mess?" she paused, earning a concerned look from Jane. "What the fuck is wrong with me for staying here?" she shook her head and began to dig through her purse.

Jane lifted his chin as if to get a better look into her bag.

"Listen. I was obviously the wrong person to talk to at UnivCo. I won't be here for more than two months and you are going to need someone else to handle the whole deal or whatever. So… Here's your money and list and stupid card-"

"Are you backing out, Maggot?" Jane frowned deeply.

Steffeny looked up with a huff, "Listen, you psychotic twit! I didn't sign up to haul your food. If you can't handle going out and getting it on your own, oh fucking well! Because I will tell the others NOT to deliver here. For their own safety." she scoffed and placed a hand to her head, "I mean, it's like you think we're in the middle of an invasion or something! No one is coming to get you, you scit!" she shouted, throwing her hands around a lot. "And stop calling me these military names, damnit! I don't like the military and war is stupid. People don't need to kill each other to make a point, you know!"

Jane set the can of beans down and quickly got into Steffeny's space, "Listen here, Maggot! You will respect the dead-"

She laughed bitterly, "Why? Why would I respect them when they didn't respect themselves enough to find another way? War is wrong. Killing our own kind is wrong-"

"During war, there is us and then there is them. They stop being our kind-"

"That just shows that you're an idiot. Why kill our brothers and sisters when we can talk about it? Why act like dogs when we can act like civilized human beings?"

"Because we ain't civilized human beings, girl! Don't you get it yet?" he growled, pushing her back up against the wall. "Human's ain't civilized. Never have been. Just because we wear clothes and use stupid tech-no-nonsense does NOT mean we're civilized. You are right about one thing, though… We ain't dogs either. Dogs are better. Dogs don't fool themselves about the tube and what-not!"

Steffeny glared, "I believe that if human's are capable of such great things, then we must take a certain responsibility-"

"Right." he nodded, agreeing.

"But killing each other proves that we deserve none of what we have."

"Right." he nodded again and before he realized that he'd just proven her point, she continued.

"Fighting makes us seem like children who didn't get their way. Talking about it is more responsible. More peaceful. It's right." she finished calmly, watching Jane closely. His head bowed as he sighed, letting the words sink in. He reached up and removed his helmet. In the dark, she couldn't make out the proper color of his hair, but figured a light or dark brown. But when he looked up at her, she found the saddest pair of blue eyes she'd ever seen!

The anger bled out of her and she glanced down, unaware of the wall behind her for the time being. Sighing again, Steffeny looked back up at Jane, "Is your name really Jane Doe?"

Those sad blues turned back to her, "Yes, ma'am."

Ma'am? When did her title jump from Maggot to Ma'am? "Listen… I'm sorry for freaking out like I did, Mr. Doe… But I was scared and I felt threatened… So I started yelling. It wasn't right of me."

His hair was graying at the temples, she could see, now that she really looked at him. His lock-squared jawed features seemed enhanced by the gray at the temples. But that damn sadness she saw in him… That reverberated off of him like waves on the shore… It made her depressed as well.

Without thought or remembrance, she embraced the man who quickly became very shocked by the random act of kindness. He stood stiff as a board in her embrace. How was he supposed to act? "Urm…"

She retracted, "You looked sad. I figured you needed a hug." she blushed at how naïve that sounded.

"Oh." he jerked back, holding his helmet between his large hands like a bashful younger boy. "Uh… Thank you?"

An uncertain smile came to Steffeny's face, "You're welcome."

They stood like that a while until Jane nervously asked, "Would you… Care to eat with me?" he offered, indicating to the forgotten can of warmed beans.

"Uh… I don't know… I think I should be getting back… To… The real world." she stated slowly, as if the words came that slow to her mind.

"Oh. Uh… Alright." he turned away and nearly moped to the can to pick it up. As he was turned away, Steffeny shook her head at her next movement, which was walking over and gently placing a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention.

Looking back at the smaller girl, he was surprised she hadn't just left already. He was even more shocked when she gently took the can from his hands. When her gentle hands touched his man-killer-mitts, her eyes looked into his and Jane was struck.

He'd never needed company until this Cashier Girl… She brought up that his life was nothing without battle and now, Jane felt completely lost… And very alone. But now, especially as she seemed to blush at his staring, he fully looked at her. She wasn't bad looking. A little young for him and all… But her hair curled from the half pony tail in dark waves. If he remembered correctly, her hair was brown, not black like it looked in the night's light. Her skin tanned from being outdoors… Her nose was rather straight, her lips a little too thin, and face a little more baby-faced that she probably wanted, accompanied by large shaped eyes. But to him… Because of their current encounter, he found her beautiful.

She wasn't like the curvy women in Vegas, when he went with Demoman… She was still in resemblance of her teenaged years. Wait! How old was she? "How old are you?" he finally asked.

"23." she responded honestly.

Good. She wasn't still a kid.

Satisfied, he went over to his can and brought it over to the couch to join his guest. The two ate in relative silence for the first few moments before he struck up a conversation… In need of talking to her. "So, you're leaving UnivCo?"

"Not just the store, but this state, as well. Moving to Florida. I was offered a scholarship there…" she explained, glad he broke the silence first.

"A scholarship, eh?"

She nodded, "Mm-hm. I've been saving up specifically to go to school and they are in my budget."

He watched her half shrug with her left shoulder. "Not what you wanted to go to for schooling?"

She shook her head. "No. But I'm not a complainer. I'll take it and hopefully, I'll be able to pay for the school I want through transfer or persistence."

"Why aren't your folks helping you?"

A hard look crossed her features, "My mother died during childbirth, my father went over seas and ended up being killed, and my step mother thinks that I should learn to make it on my own. I share a single bedroom apartment with an old high school friend of mine. I'm lucky that the school decided to give me a scholarship when they did… My supposed friend is now demanded more money for rent."

"I understand a friends betrayal…" and he left it at that.

Steffeny was confused, but decided to leave it be. After a short while later, she was finished and stood, taking the can and spoon to the kitchen. She rinsed the can out for recycling and placed it upside down on the unused drain rack. She walked back to the living room and scratched her head, "Listen…. I have to get going. The beans were, nice… Uhm…" she scratched at her head.

"You coming back tomorrow?" he asked.

The way he asked made her smile. She couldn't help but say yes. "Alright. Just don't try to kill me this time. Alright?"

He grinned, "Yes, sir."

She chuckled and waved goodbye.

A month and a half had passed with Steffeny helping Jane adjust to non-military life. She helped him straighten his apartment out and went with him when he went out. Steffeny found herself not wanting to leave to Florida.

Yet, Jane had adjusted rather well due to the encouragement Steffeny gave him. He was grateful, and he found more and more that he wasn't ready for her to leave. In fact, he nearly annoyed the sanity right out of her with his various unsubtle hints to how he didn't like the idea of her leaving.

One day, the two were walking from a job interview for Jane when they ran into someone Jane knew from a while back. He reached out his hand to halt Steffeny's steps and growled.

"Jane? What is it?" She asked, putting the resume into the folder in her large portfolio bag. When he didn't answer, she looked up, "Jane?"

In front of them was a black man sitting on a bench, waiting… With an…

"Is that an eye patch?" Steffeny asked in awe.

"That there is Tavish DeGroot." he said quietly. "Remember when I said I understood about bad friends?"

Steffeny went into thought for a minute or two, then nodded, "Yeah. That's him?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Inhaling, Steffeny gathered a sense of courage and linked arms with Jane, "Then let's see if he recalls you. Just relax and ignore him unless he calls out to you. Surely there is a reason why he's here and not… where ever he spends his time instead."

She lead him past the black Scotsman. To say she was surprised when the man rushed in front of them to get a good look at Jane was an understatement.

"Soldier?"

Jane frowned and remained quiet. So, Steffeny answered, "His name is Jane… Not Soldier."

Tavish looked at Steffeny, as if seeing her for the first time… Which was probably correct. "Aye. Soldier is his title, Lass. What he went by durin' the war!"

Glancing up at Jane, Steffeny gauged the expression on his face and turned back to the black man, "I don't believe Jane wishes to speak with you…"

"He's the one who wanted to kill me!" the Scotsman exclaimed.

"Lies… Why don't you speak in that robot-like voice again and tell the hole world about my deepest secrets again?" Jane finally spoke, but it was in a low growl. Dangerous.

The tone sent jolts up Steffeny's spine. "Oh dear."

"What? I never spoke of any o'that since ye told me!"

"The administrator told me herself! I saw the video." his muscles rippled in his growing anger.

Feeling the muscle movement under her hands, Steffeny felt another jolt, but accompanied by a shiver. Glancing around, she realized people were beginning to stare. "Jane? Mr. DeGroot? Can we head back to the apartment for some privacy on the matter? Arguing in public like this is uncivilized."

Jane and Tavish looked down at the small young woman who was looking around with concern. Following her example and looking around themselves, they shared a glance and agreed. The trio quickly moved back to Jane's apartment where Steffeny sat the two men down and went to make coffee.

While in the kitchenette, she leaned against the counter and shuddered. When Jane got angry at Tavish, she got… Well… Turned on. Not quite understanding why that was, but knowing that she shouldn't be feeling like that… Especially since she was trying to lead him away from his anger, help him release all the negative in his life.

Taking her time with the coffee, a few minutes passed before the sound of a fight broke out. Placing the mugs back down, Steffeny peaked out of the doorway and watched as the two nearly fifty-year-old men duked it out, table and chairs knocked over. The man she had made civilized was scrapping like the best of them! Like a fighting dog… Like… Like… A God of battle!

Blushing furiously, Steffeny couldn't look away. Being a non-violent person all her life, she didn't even like crushing ants or her dad and step mother arguing over who would decide dinner! But watching Jane fight was something else entirely. It wasn't that there was grace or timing… Nothing frilly and choreographed… But raw power and aggression. It was beautiful.

The fight lasted a short moment before Jane was poised to finish this fist fight with Tavish. "Wait! Wait! That girl who worked for the Administrator told me that you had agreed to kill me. Tha' was the only reason I even accepted!"

"Bullshit! Administrator showed me that video of you sharing my secrets… She told me to kill you because you were already gunning for me!" Jane responded.

Both men were panting and Steffeny decided now was the proper time, "Sounds to me like she didn't want you to be friends." she roughly righted the table with a foot and set the two mugs down. "I didn't know how you liked your coffee, Mr. DeGroot, so I made it strong."

"What do you mean didn't want us to be friends?" Jane asked, watching the woman.

Steffeny smiled and walked over, pulling Jane from Tavish, "I had this friend once and she knew this one guy that she liked. I didn't like him the way she did, but she got severely jealous when he and I became pretty good friends… So, she told me that he was telling people these nasty rumors about me. Then she turned around and said to Brent, the only reason I hung out with him was to get to his older brother." she sat Jane down in a chair she straightened out then helped Tavish up. "Needless to say, Brent and I thought it odd and spoke to one another about it. When we discovered that neither of the alleged allegations were true, we pinpointed that it was our jealous friend."

"Then what?" Tavish asked, taking a chair and fixing it to sit down.

"Well. We played a trick on her and pretended to be going out for a whole week. It was so funny. She didn't like it though and vowed never to speak to either of us again. Though I lost a friend, I also earned a better friend. Brent." Steffeny laughed.

"So you think that's what happened with us?" Jane asked, sharing a concerned glance with Tavish.

"Absolutely. It's an angry chick thing. Sneaky and a little backstabbing… But completely possible." Steffeny shrugged, "Though, I don't know her reason behind it."

"We were on opposing teams, Lass." explained Tavish.

Nodding, Steffeny sipped her coffee, "That explains it." setting the mug down, she clasped her hands and looked from one man to the other. "Your mistrust was misplaced. She did it because it went against the rules of war. You're not 'supposed' to fraternize with the enemy… Though it does happen a lot. We're all human and taking sides is stupid."

There was silence a moment as the three nursed their mugs. Tavish looked around, "Y'did good with this place, Jane."

Jane glanced around as well and nodded his head to Steffeny, "She's been helping me, what was it?"

"Let go of the past and adjust to the present." she filled in wisely.

"Yeah. That." he nudged his thumb at her.

Setting her mug down, she cleared her throat. "Do you gentlemen want me to leave so you can catch up? I feel like because I'm here, you two are clamming up?" she didn't like saying that… Especially as revved up as she was… But Jane needed another friend… A guy friend to hang with.

"No. I can't stay too long, Lass. I have a wee miss awaitin' fer me." he leaned forwards, "But aren't yeh a little too young for Jane?" Tavish grinned devilishly. It earned him a blush from the girl and a head shake from Jane.

"No, Tavish. It ain't like that." Jane commented, waving his hands in front of him.

Tavish couldn't help but grin again, "Oh, I'm sure."

And so, he stuck around for an hour or so before heading off and promising to keep in touch with Jane. Said Soldier stayed seated while Steffeny stood and gathered the mugs to wash by hand in the kitchen. When she finished, she glanced out to find Jane still sitting at the table, thinking.

Walking over, she placed her hands onto his shoulders and squeezed gently, "Are you alright Jane?"

His large hands covered her small feminine ones before tugging her closer so he could wrap her arms around him. "I ain't too sure any more, Steffeny."

The blushing young woman settled as comfortably as she could against his back before pecking his cheek, "Don't go and think too much on it. You did something your boss or superior thought was wrong and they punished you accordingly. I'm not saying it was necessary or right… But in their eyes, yourself and Tavish were in the wrong."

Jane barely noticed the peck and sighed. "Who the hell can I trust when the people I work for can't be trusted?"

For a long moment, Steffeny was silent. Her thoughts teetering between what to say next. Finally, she settled with hugging his neck and pressing her mouth to his ear to whisper; "You can trust me, Jane."

That little whisper and the tightening of her arms around his neck seemed to bring forth his admiration for the forthright woman. It brought forth thoughts he only dared think when he was alone and she was long gone. And the one doubt he had… "She's too young for me and I'm too old for her" thought simply died out.

He turned slowly towards her with a need to know if what he suddenly felt in the air was correct. And it was. He saw it in her eyes and the fair blush on her sun kissed skin. Gently, he grabbed her arms and pulled her to his side, where they stared at one another for a long while. His little peace-loving-nearly-a-hippie-woman seemed unsure of herself. It instilled a want to protect her. A desire to ensure that she was looked after.

A need to pull her into his lap, "There ain't no going back, soldier." he said in a sort of rumbling whisper. It almost sounded like a growl. Regardless, the words whispered or growled re-awoke the previous feeling of excitement.

Steffeny offered a small smile, "I don't look back, ever." she blushed at how lame she thought she sounded, but when his mouth covered her, it no longer mattered. Readjusting, Steffeny straddled her rough'n'tumble Soldier and pressed her being as close to Jane as she could. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her eyes shut tight.

His large rough hands roamed from her arms to her shoulders, down her back slowly before reached for her hips. Down to her knees, those man-killing-hands went, then they danced back the way they came to her hips. Those hands drifted to cup her rear before lifting her onto the table in front of him.

Jane broke from Steffeny before he gently pushed her down onto the table. He stared hungrily at her body before allowing his hands to grope with need. Hot. She felt hot to the touch.

WHAP!

Steffeny jumped in her seat and looked towards the professor who was glaring disappointingly at her, "If you cannot handle academics, Steffeny, I suggest you go home now." he called, causing a few of the students to laugh at the girl.

Blushing darkly, Steffeny shook her head, "It won't happen again, sir, I promise." She straightened and ignored her peers. Too many a nights has she stayed up playing Team Fortress 2. She was good at Soldier and she adored his character. Just thinking about Soldier nearly made her sigh like a girl. Not that she wasn't one.

Man, that was a vivid dream…

"…and now, our guest speaker will tell us about the battle field." her professor exclaimed, stepping aside.

A strong looking man stepped up to the podium and Steffeny nearly died right then and there. The strong face, the combed back hair with the grey at the temples… The blue eyes… She nearly fainted. Was this a cruel joke or was she dreaming again?

"Alright Maggots…" he began, voice rough, but full of an instilled passion from years in the service. "None of you yellow bellied sissies better fall asleep on me, or you can drop down right here, in front of the whole class, and give me twenty!"

Steffeny pinched her arm and bit her lower lip so as not to exclaim.

This was real.

* * *

_See? Makes that much more sense, don't it? LOL_

_- Scitah_


End file.
